Weeks after India and Pakistan agreed to open the Line of Control in Kashmir in the wake of the devastating earthquake, families divided by the de facto border remain frustrated that only relief workers have been allowed to cross—not local residents. Now, following weeks of pressure, Pakistani authorities have alloweds 83 residents from the Indian side of the line to cross over to meet with their kin in stricken villages. The case of some 100 residents seeking to cross from Pakistani to Indian controlled territory remains pending. (Reuters, Nov. 16)

Within hours of the announcement, four people were killed and 45 wounded when a car bomb exploded on a busy intersection in Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir. Al-Arifeen, claimed responsibility for the explosion in a telephone call to the Kashmir News Service. Police said that it was a front for the banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba. (Pakistan Daily Times, Nov. 17)

Spain has joined Italy in launching an investigation of claims the CIA is operating a "rendition fleet" to transfer detainees to facilities in a secret gulag maintained in various host countries. From the AP, Nov. 15:

MADRID, Spain — The interior minister said Tuesday a judge is investigating alleged CIA use of a Spanish airport as part of a covert program for transporting suspected Islamic terrorists.

In today's headlines, up to 200 malnourished Iraqi detainees bearing signs of torture were found in a secret prison in the basement of a government building in Baghdad. The discovery came after US troops surrounded and took control of an Interior Ministry building in the Jadriya district of the capital on the night of Nov. 13.

When US troops arrived at the facility, officials there told them some 40 detainees were being held. As they searched the building they discovered at least 200, mostly Sunni Arabs and many in very poor health. The US foces had apparently been tipped off to the prison’s existence by relatives of those detained there.

A powerful blast outside KFC fast-food franchise killed three people and wounded at least 15 others in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi early Nov. 15. The Baluchistan National Army, a separatist guerilla group in restive southwestern Baluchistan Province, claimed responsibility for the attack. But Pakistani officials deny the existence of the group. "We did it to protest, and we did it to pressure the government for our rights," a guerilla spokesperson, identified as Chakar Azam, told the AP. Pakistani officials dismissed the claim.

Although it was only the attempt on a luxury cruise ship that made headlines, Somali pirates attacked five vessels last week, with shipping experts saying the operations were apparently directed from a mysterious "mother ship" prowling the busy Indian Ocean corridor.

Most vessels escaped, but one was commandeered, bringing to seven the number of vessels now being held captive along with their crews by pirates operating along Somalia's coastline, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.

Rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles were fired at the US-owned Seabourn Spirit, carrying 150 western tourists, by gunmen in two small speedboats, but the ship's captain managed to change course and speed away. Thousands of merchant ships carrying oil and other critical coommodities pass the Somali coast to the Cape of Good Hope every year. (IOL, Nov. 12)

From NY Newsday, Nov. 14:

Brooklyn man killed in hit and run

BY ASHLEY HARRELL
STAFF WRITER; Staff writer Luis Perez contributed to this story.

A Brooklyn factory worker and father of three was killed in a hit and run while he was walking home from a night with friends, police and family said yesterday.

A gray BMW truck heading east on Myrtle Avenue struck Lucino Galindo, 51, at the corner of Emerson Place around 1 a.m. and did not turn back, police said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused Mexican leader Vicente Fox of being a "puppy" of President Bush and warned: "Don't mess with me, sir, because you'll get stung." Fox shot back Nov. 14 that "we have dignity in this country" and demanded an apology. Chavez responded by calling home his ambassador, and Mexico quickly responded in kind.

"The whole world knows that this didn't begin on the Venezuelan side," Venezuelan Ambassador Vladimir Villegas said. When asked what the driving issue was behind the controversy, he said, "look a little bit north"—a reference to the United States.

Tensions between Fox and Chavez boiled over after the summit in Argentina, where Fox defended a US-backed proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Chavez proclaimed the idea dead. On Nov. 13, Mexico issued a statement saying Chavez' insult "strikes at the dignity of the Mexican people and government." Early the next day, Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, said Mexico would expel the ambassador if Venezuela didn't apologize by midnight.

From the opening days of the Iraq campaign in March 2003, there were uncorroborated reports of use of chemical and other unconventional weapons. These reports emerged again with the re-taking of Fallujah one year ago. Thanks to the work of an Italian documentary team, these claims are now in the headlines again—in Europe at least. From the UK Independent, Nov. 15: